Abstract

In this report we present the findings of a survey of businesses located in the Newark and Sherwood district of Nottinghamshire. The survey focuses on growth, employment, skills, training and business advice and includes businesses across a wider range of sectors, from sole traders to large employers and from recent start-ups to long established businesses.

The majority of firms have fewer than five employees. When recruiting, smaller firms tend to prefer local advertising and word of mouth rather than more formal channels.

Almost 60% of businesses are seeking growth, with just 5.6% expecting to downsize. Low confidence in the economy is the main restraint on growth, with the cost of staff and a lack of finance for investment also cited by over a third of respondents.

Over half of the business owners who responded had moved into the district during their adult lives and they are more likely to be looking for growth in the next 2 years compared to indigenous business owners. These in-migrants conduct the majority of their trade within the local area but also have higher levels of export and nationwide trade compared to locally owned businesses. Therefore local development policy must take into account wider business dynamics and networks.

A lack of motivation in the workforce is seen as a problem when recruiting staff across most business sectors, although not in manufacturing. The most difficult skills to find when recruiting are identified as customer service skills, technical skills and written communication.